Local girl ropes scholarship through rodeo

At the end of each high school year our sports department reports on athletes who have signed on with certain colleges to continue their careers.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. -

At the end of each high school year our sports department reports on athletes who have signed on with certain colleges to continue their careers.

But they may have missed one this year, maybe because it's in a sport that you don't hear about much in this part of the country: rodeo.

Sierra Davenport is getting ready to go off to college. The recent Chilhowie graduate looks over the many pictures she has of her high school athletic career, a career in a rather odd sport for this area: rodeo. "I get questioned about it a lot, asked why I do it, how I got into it. In high school I actually got made fun of for it a little bit because it's just not a common thing around here," Sierra says.

Just a scan of all of the gold belt buckles that she's won would make any cowboy jealous.

You might say she's a rodeo queen. "I started rodeoing in seventh grade and that's when I started getting interested in stuff out west. The National Finals High School Rodeo is in Wyoming and I've been there the last four years for the national finals," she explained.

That's where she started talking with the Central Wyoming college coach about a scholarship. "After talking to him more and more and he started offering me deals, scholarships. I went and visited the college about a month ago and they offered me another equine scholarship because I'm going into equine studies. That's when I made my decision," Sierra explained.

Her whole world has centered around horses and that's where her future lies, in a very unusual way. "I'm going to Central Wyoming to get my equine studies out of the way and go on to a four-year chiropractic school to get my chiropractic degree. With the two I can be an equine chiropractor," she said.

And yes, there's a big call for that. Of course, don't be surprised if you see her on the professional rodeo circuit one day too.